Saturday, September 02, 2006

appreciating the labor of bloggers

Labor Day is being celebrated in the USA.

I want to recognize those tireless people who labor in blogging.

The blogosphere is rich in information, insight, and entertainment. We learn about other people and other cultures. Thanks to the generosity and dedication of bloggers, we discover facts that we might not have known.

Some bloggers struggle to compose their posts, because they aren't that good at writing. Others spend time learning HTML, so they can improve their blog design and functions. Everything done to enhance a blog is done for the benefit of readers.

Keep blogging. You don't know what people are inspired and helped by what you publish in your blog. I mean, many readers don't post comments or email you to express their appreciation, but they enjoy you, trust you, and learn from you.

We have no idea what impact our blogs may be having.

Even if you post just funny stories about your day to day life, or complaints about society and work, you still might be very important to others. Someone may have felt really self-conscious and weird about something, until they read your thoughts about it, and feel a kindred spirit. They relate to what you say, maybe they laugh, and feel better about something.

When you feel discouraged, and defeated, just remember that you may have people who are great fans, but never told you. They may be shy, inarticulate, busy, bad writers, or fearful of sounding stupid in a comment. Maybe they've seen, not at your blog, but at other forums and sites, commenters ridiculed and flamed. Maybe they just don't know how to express their appreciation.

So blog with those people in mind. The silent lurkers who like you and respect you and promote your ideas and opinions in other internet locations or in the offline world that's rumored to exist outside the blogosphere.

Happy Labor Day...

and thanks to all the bloggers who have taught me, inspired me, debated me, criticized me, and guided me.

3 comments:

and a happy labor day to you VTG! Not being able to hop aboard the video blogging is such a frustration =/ (grrrr) i guess for now I should be most grateful that the old gateway is up and running...well that would be an over statement- it is more accurately up and semi functioning =)

I hope you can get a faster internet connection soon. Broadband service is being extended all the time, reaching rural areas slowly but surely. There is good money to be made in it.

I introduced a couple of my young relatives, Tyler (8) and Andrew (5) to YouTube yesterday. Tyler prefered to hold the webcam and direct, while Tyler liked "busting moves" and assorted antics in front of the camera.

My days on dial-up were sluggish and it took quite a while to download pages sometimes, if they had photos on them.